Avengers: Endgame treated fans to pretty much everything they could’ve wanted, but even in a 3-hour movie the filmmakers could only squeeze in so much. For instance, Avengers: Infinity War kicked off with Thanos besting Hulk in a brawl, something which begged to be resolved with a rematch in the sequel. However, no such duel occurred. But now, this newly-revealed concept art teases what could’ve been.
The artwork was shared at D23 over the weekend, with some snaps of the pieces soon ending up online, courtesy of Reddit user WilderOrcada. One shows what you might call the Iron Family – Iron Man, Rescue, War Machine and Spider-Man – blasting through the sky, while another captures a moving kiss between Tony and Pepper on the battlefield. The most satisfying, though, has to be the concept art of Smart Hulk finally getting the better of the Mad Titan with a mean right hook.
We know that there was a heck of a lot of material that never made it into the finished cut of Endgame, ranging from abandoned subplots that never got past the script stage – Scarlet Witch and Rocket road trip, anyone? – to key sequences that were ultimately removed due to test screening reactions – Katherine Langford’s cameo as a teenage Morgan Stark. It’s unclear how far along the process this battle between Hulk and Thanos got though before it was junked.
Of course, this is just one of the many ways that Hulk’s arc changed over the course of Infinity War and Endgame. Originally, the merging of Hulk and Banner happened in IW before it was held off for Endgame. Drafts were written featuring scenes which explored how Smart Hulk was created as well, but ultimately, the writers decided to throw viewers in the deep end by introducing him without any explanation (see above).
Tell us, though, do you think a Hulk vs. Thanos fight should’ve happened in Avengers: Endgame? Have your say in the comments section below.
